It’s hard to say how much garbage is in the ocean.

But, as Andy Schroeder knows, one thing is for sure: There’s a lot of it.

Schroeder, founder and executive director of the Kodiak-based nonprofit Island Trails Network, led a marine debris cleanup expedition to Shuyak Island from July 19 to July 27.

Schroeder, a crew and eight volunteers lived on an 83-foot charter boat, The Island C, while they gathered more than 10,000 pounds of trash from Dead Bird Beach.

Plastic and derelict fishing gear were the most common types of garbage the group collected.

While it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where the garbage came from, Schroeder said many of the plastic bottles had Asian labels.

“We found one that had Arabic letters, too, though,” Schroeder said.

The age of the garbage was also a source of speculation.

“The best estimate is that plastic will persist in the environment for 500 years,” Schroeder said.

The Shuyak Island location was chosen from interviews with concerned Alaska park rangers. Schroeder also did aerial surveys and collected thousands of photos to determine Kodiak areas that are most afflicted with marine debris.

The volunteers came from a variety of backgrounds and locations, one joining the cleanup from North Carolina.

“Our intention was to bring in people from outside of Alaska,” Schroeder said.

According to Bob King of Juneau’s Marine Conservation Alliance, a nonprofit organization that helped fund the trip, environmental awareness is on the rise.

He said there are 12 marine debris groups similar to that of ITN’s group working in Alaska.

“There is a changing ethic, a sense of stewardship for our resources,” King said.

Schroeder said all the garbage his group collected will be shipped to Seattle for recycling.

Mirror writer Elizabeth Caldwell can be reached via e-mail at ecaldwell@kodiakdailymirror.com.